Wednesday, October 14, 2009

Colombian President: "Yes, We Do Believe in" Legalization

Former Colombian president Cesar Garivia said he thinks the U.S. and other countries should stop arresting so many people for drugs in an interview with CNN's Christiane Amanpour on Tuesday.

At about six minutes into this embedded video, when Amanpour asks President Garivia about legalization and decriminalization, he says, "We do believe in that. You should not put people in jail because of the consumption of drugs...Just putting people in jail doesn't solve any problem; it only increases the problem. The U.S. has to look at its policy."

What I liked best about the interview was "The U.S. has to change its policy", "You should not put people in jail because of consumption of drugs" and "Putting people in jail creates a problem (consumers in jail)"

After you're done having your dancing parties at the White House Obummer do you think you might consider implementing this IMMEDIATELY?

Like any other politician, Obama will not be proactively addressing drug policy reform any time soon, even if it's a position he supports. The best we can hope is that he keeps the feds distanced from drug policy minutae and lets the states do a little experimentation -- something that seems possible, if not probable given the DOJ statements so far.

Still though, the international prohibition racket is crumbling before our eyes. Obsessing over drug consumption is a luxury many governments no longer find affordable given its obvious ineffectiveness. Even if no major shifts occur in domestic US drug policy this is a positive development; our drug policies have been hurting people all around the world for decades now.